Blue Roses and Caged Birds
by Salmon
Summary: Eddelrittuo is loyal to Asseylum, but when she first hears Slaine Troyard blamed for the entire war she still stares at her with wide eyes and asks, "How could you?"


**Blue Roses and Caged Birds  
An Aldnoah Zero Fanfic**

* * *

Eddelrittuo is loyal to Asseylum, but when she first hears Slaine Troyard blamed for the entire war she still stares at her with wide eyes and asks, "How could you?"

"They say the full truth is too complicated. Both Vers and Earth need someone to blame and Slaine is... the obvious choice."

Eddelrittuo thinks later that if Asseylum hadn't started crying she might have said more. Said it was unfair to Slaine after all he did for them. Pointed out that Count Saazbaum could have just as easily shouldered at least the part of the blame he owed. Argued that it was the need of someone to blame that lead Vers to hate Earth and caused the second war as much as Saazbaum or Slaine.

Eddelrittuo is loyal though. So she lays a comforting hand on Asseylum's shoulder and says, "He wouldn't have minded."

That, too, is truth. Because Slaine was as loyal as she and whatever their princess needed was hers for the taking. She knows he would have agreed to be the villain if he'd been alive to do so. As a year passes though it doesn't keep her from wanting to defend him from the hate steeped upon him.

Time and again she bites her tongue and wishes there was at least someone to talk to who knew the real Slaine. Asseylum can't seem to bear to hear his name so she stops trying with her.

The treacherous thought she can't help but have is: Blaming Slaine is easy. Slaine wouldn't have minded. That doesn't make it right.

When another refusal to give up earth territory comes from the knights on the surface, another thought strikes Eddelrittuo: Slaine may be dead and unable to defend his name. But is everybody who would?

Eddelrittuo is loyal to Asseylum, but when the communication from Lemrina comes asking for a secret meeting she doesn't hesitate to accept.

She arrives via Kataphrat with terran exoskeleton devices on her legs. Gone is the flowing gown and in it's place is a military uniform that resembles Vers but with subtle differences. She's not alone either. The sight of Harklight answers her question about the landing castles.

"We will never return to Vers." Lemrina tells her. "We will never surrender to those who slander the name of Slaine Troyard."

"They said... someone needed to be blamed." Faced with Slaine's most loyal supporters, Eddelrittuo finds the words taste sour on her tongue and sound even worse. An empty apology.

Harklight snorts. It's unbecoming and so very Terran, but somehow very fitting. The tone of his reply is bitter. "They needed a commoner to blame."

To that Eddelrittuo has no defense. Because it's true. It's why Saazbaum was not called on his guilt. Why, even though he did not plot the assassination alone, no living knight has been arrested or questioned. Asseylum needs their support. Blaming Saazbaum would have caused disruption. Slaine was a hero to the Vers lowerclass, but to the Terrans and Vers upperclass, he was the enemy. The choice had been obvious.

"And so the corruption of Vers will continue." Lemrina states. "The newfound wealth of the treaty with the UEF will do wonders for those born to high class. For the rest of Vers people? Nothing will change."

"Right now we're biding our time. The day will come though when we will proclaim ourselves a new kingdom separate from Vers or UEF." Harklight explains. "No one wants another war right now. So time is on our side."

"First we need to cultivate the lands we've claimed." Lemrina tells her.

"Our people sneak out regularly to gather knowledge from the Terrans about what we need to understand to live on earth. It's trial and error. We've had both successes and failures. I'm confident in the end we'll succeed though. We will make our late Lord's new kingdom a reality."

Eddelrittuo is loyal to Vers, but she is also a servant. She understands why Slaine is a hero to Harklight and others who are not privileged. He beat the Counts at their own game. He inherited a war and almost won it. He promised a new world. Whereas Asseylum only offered a return to the status quo. Peace with Earth but no change for Vers. Was there any wonder some chose to fight on in the former's name?

These thoughts prompt her reply. "Be sure to plant Blue Roses. Lord Slaine taught me... they mean 'Miracle'."

Lemrina's smile is brilliant. Eddelrittuo doesn't think she's ever seen the younger princess so happy.

It is another year before she learns Slaine is alive. She manages to convince Inaho to let her see him within a week. Slaine cries when she hugs him. She doesn't mind because she's crying too. Her happiness at seeing him alive is short lived. Slaine is despondent. He is alive but he is not living. His smile is heartbreaking when she promises to bring him blue roses.

"Impossible?" He asks her.

"Miracle." She insists.

Inaho seems almost pleased by the visit. "He spoke with you. He rarely does anything but ask me to kill him."

Eddelrittuo closes her eyes and reminds herself how much she likes Inaho. "You put him in a cage."

Inaho stares at her blankly. "He is imprisoned for his crimes."

There is no less blood on your hands, she thinks but does not say. The blood on the hands of those who win the war is never counted. "For life?"

"His release is impossible. But he will want for nothing so long as he lives."

Nothing save freedom. Or death. Which in this case would be one and the same. "Why was he not executed? They claimed he was."

"It was Asseylum's wish."

"To imprison him?"

"To save him."

"You put him in a cage!"

Inaho's blank stare tells her he doesn't understand.

Saddest of all are the birds who live in cages, Slaine had said.

Why would anyone do that? She'd asked.

Because they are so very beautiful.

Eddelrittuo is loyal. To Asseylum. To Vers. But also to her friends.

She can't act right away. Not without bringing suspicion on herself. She continues visiting. She talks Inaho into letting Slaine plant a garden she then must convince Slaine he wants. Two years she waits to bring him Blue Roses.

On the fourth year after the end of the second Terran-Versian War a dead man disappears. A crashed vehicle by the ocean and used gun with his prints convince the upper ranks of the UEF of his demise. The primary feeling is relief.

One lone soldier looks at her with suspicion. Without regular visits to the prison, though, Inaho and her rarely meet.

Asseylum weeps upon hearing the news, and it almost breaks her resolve. Eddelrittuo is well versed in conspiracies and secrets by now, though. The presence of the Empress's Consort is what gives her strength to hold her tongue. She trusts Klanclain in most matters. But perhaps not in this one.

On the fifth year after the war in a pirate radio broadcast Princess Lemrina stands proudly before a camera with Harklight beside her and announces the formation of the Kingdom of La Mancha in a speech Eddelrittuo has no doubt was written by a supposedly dead war criminal and war hero who are one and the same. The blue roses behind the now Empress of La Mancha could mean Miracle or Impossible.

Eddelrittuo is loyal, but alone in her room she cheers the stirring speech and hopes for the former for the new kingdom.

 _Fini_

* * *

I actually really liked second season. I cheered when Harklight went back to fight for Slaine despite his orders and inspired others to follow suit. I rather think the audience was supposed to cheer. Aldnoah Zero was very much written in a way that lets you feel for both sides of the conflict. The war started for a variety of reasons and to both sides they were "in the right". Even the more "villainous" characters are not without a reason behind their actions.

My biggest issue with the ending is that they scapegoat Slaine. To me there's several problems with it.

One: Anyone who researched even a little is going to wonder how a terran underage boy with no way to contact earth managed to plot an assassination attempt.

Two: Saazbaum didn't work alone. There's other guilty parties out there and by scapegoating Slaine, they're never going to be held accountable. Slaine inherited the war and is imprisoned for life. Saazbaum's cohorts are the ones who helped start it and they get a free pardon. How is that justice?

Three: It proves Saazbaum and Slaine's conversation correct. There may be peace with Earth now and wealth and trade available to Vers - but who will profit from it? Asseylum's society is corrupt and she doesn't seem to be doing a damn thing about it. This essentially means another revolution is inevitable in the future.

Hence fix it fic. I loved that Eddelrittuo became a supporter of Slaine's and defended him in S2, so I use it here. I could have left him imprisoned and just had the new kingdom be created in his memory, but I couldn't resist giving him as happy an ending as possible. If anyone can convince him to live again it's Lemrina and Harklight. I almost called the Kingdom Troyard, but then I decided Slaine would object to it. So, yes, I took it from Don Quixote instead. There are several pieces of lyrics from the play that I feel are perfect for the three.


End file.
